An elderly couple died this morning when their ground-floor home in Fernão Ferro, Seixal, was flooded in the downpours prompted by Storm Claudia.
According to family members, the couple, both aged 88, would have been asleep when floodwaters surged in.
The property was “completely submerged”, with water “reaching the height of the windows”, say reports.
This was a couple that lived on their own. They had an SOS (panic) button, but clearly did not have time to use it.
Firefighters alerted by a neighbour broke into the property, but there was nothing they could do to reverse the situation.
According to a source for Civil Protection, the houses in this particular area have all been constructed ‘illegally’. The details of the ‘illegality’ were not explained, but the building was clearly in an area prone to flash flooding.
Source material: SIC / CNN
